Women in higher education in globalized India : The travails of inclusiveness and social equality

Women in Higher Education in Globalized India : The Travails of Inclusiveness and Social Equality  

As society becomes knowledge driven, higher education becomes the vehicle for success reflecting on socio-economic development of the country. With the shackles of the once worthy aim of socialist society giving way to new economic rationalism and crash consumerism, Indian society is in state of flux. With globalization, a model of advanced capitalist production techniques has begun to elbow its way into the entire fabric of its society. In such social formation, forms of social inequality are derived from class, cultural and gender domination. How higher education, in the backdrop of the structural changes of society, wrestle with the issue of equality, has been vital to the policy makers and academics. No doubt mass education in India has taken off, yet in practice reflections of cultural hegemony exist in the educational institutions.

 Data drawn for the present paper is based on study of 100 students in University of Lucknow during academic session 2010-11. The main focus of the paper is to investigate the problem of social inequality with special reference to gender inequality in the Indian higher education. The main research question was to probe whether increased participation of women in higher education and market economy means enhanced gender equality? With this probing question detailed interview with the help of structured interview schedule were conducted with the female post graduate students of Lucknow University in different Master courses. Preliminary results of the study show that the impact of globalization has been paradoxical and complex and they continue to remain subjugated the marginalized in new ways in their social lives.